00:00 Hello, I'm Emma May here with your top 5 news stories in Bristol this week.
00:05 Our first story this week is Bristol's first new railway station in almost a century will
00:10 be opening to passengers next Tuesday. The new 5.8 million portway park and ride station
00:17 between Shirehampton and Avonmouth connects the existing park and ride site with the Severn
00:22 Beach railway line. It is a single platform station that will offer passengers half hourly
00:28 services between Bristol, Temple, Meads and Avonmouth and an hourly service in Severn
00:35 Beach. It will be the first station to open as part of the West of England Mayoral Combined
00:41 Authorities multi-million pound Metro West programme.
00:47 Our second story is plans are well underway for Siren Festival this weekend. The event
00:52 features Dancehall superstar Sean Paul who will perform at Bristol's Harbourside as part
00:58 of the Siren Festival. The three day music event will be held at the Bristol Amphitheatre
01:04 and has confirmed the Gimme the Light artist as Friday's headliner. It will be Sean Paul's
01:10 first gig in Bristol for more than a decade when he last played at the O2 in 2011. The
01:16 festival will feature a collection of local and well known artists as well as a plethora
01:21 of locally sourced drinks.
01:23 Our third story is a sad one. Heartbreaking figures released by the RSPCA as a general
01:28 part of the Council Out Cruelty campaign have revealed 129 cruelty complaints were made
01:34 in Bristol last year. Nationally last year there were almost 18,000 cat cruelty complaints
01:40 reported to the RSPCA. Of those reports 1,700 were international harm incidents which is
01:47 around 5 a day. This is a 25% increase from 2021. It comes during a busy time for the
01:54 animal welfare charity which sees cruelty peak in the summer with three reports made
02:00 every single minute.
02:03 Our fourth story this week is 8 Bristol food businesses have been shortlisted for the Uber
02:08 Eats Restaurant of the Year award. Spanning over 35 towns and cities the representation
02:15 of 35 different types of cuisine. The award celebrates the best restaurant in each region.
02:22 And finally plans are well underway for Bristol's International Balloon Fiesta. Bristol International
02:28 Balloon Fiesta returns for its 45th anniversary and organisers have announced the Fiesta shuttle
02:35 bus is also making a comeback. The popular shuttle bus was scrapped in 2022 due to a
02:42 shortage of drivers but it makes a welcome return this year and tickets are already on
02:47 sale. Europe's largest annual balloon fiesta returns to Ashton Court from Thursday 10th
02:54 to Sunday 13th August.
02:57 That's you up to date with your top five news stories in Bristol this week. Whatever you're
03:02 up to this weekend, have a great one.
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